You can see it in her eyes: focus. A single path to follow in life, one that informs every decision she makes, and every word she says in her distinct English diction. Katherine Legge is a race car driver to the marrow. A nomad who doesn’t think twice about packing up and moving to a different state, or country, or continent, for a race seat. A person with an insatiable hunger for motorsports. “I eat, drink, breathe, sleep, live — everything — racing.” Legge said, “I mean, I cannot imagine a world without racing in it, without me driving. The thought terrifies me.”

That motivation is evident in Legge’s driving resume. Like many drivers, she started in karting and initially followed a relatively typical path of any Formula 1 hopeful, racing in Formula Renault and British Formula 3. She then found more opportunities in the United States, racing in Toyota Atlantics, Champ Car and IndyCar. Europe came calling again and she raced in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and A1GP. Of course, that doesn’t include racing the Deltawing for Don Panoz and several drives in endurance racing.

“I’ve jumped from one thing to the other just to keep my career alive. I’ve gone where the opportunities are,” Legge said. “I haven’t had the money or the huge backing. I’ve had to fight for everything that I’ve got. I’ve driven whatever I got the opportunity to drive over the years. And I’ve been very fortunate to be part of some cool programs. I drove a Formula 1 car, I drove the DTM car, A1GP for Great Britain. I have done a lot of really cool stuff.”

Right now, the cool thing she’s in is an Acura NSX GT3 race car for Michael Shank Racing, where Legge finished second in class at Mid-Ohio — and Legge helped develop this NSX race car. “It was a development process between Japan, Europe and here at HPD. When we got the cars, we changed pretty much everything, from the downforce to a bunch of things in the cockpit, the damping, everything. And we haven’t stopped developing it, by the way. It was neat to drive it when it first came here and see how raw it was and take it to a place where we’re winning races with it last year. So that was cool.”

This eagerness to race, the bug, just where did it come from? Well, definitely not her mom, “My mom says it’s noisy, dirty, smelly, and dangerous.” Legge said, “She came to Road Atlanta two years ago and said, ‘It’s not changed since the kart track days Katherine, just bigger.’” Legge’s father is, and always has been supportive, but her mother may have more to do with Legge’s career than she’d want to admit: “Seeing her in a road car, she’s way crazier than my dad. I think I got the driving from my mom and the competitive bit from my dad.”

One question that Legge gets a lot: What’s it like being a woman in racing? “Honestly, my answer is always the same: I don’t know,’” Legge said. “Because all I’ve ever been is a woman in racing, and I only see it from my perspective. I don’t have the perspective of being a guy in racing. I mean, I know it’s different, obviously, but for the most part, like my teammates, other drivers, everybody treats me the same. A lot of people do not know how to be around me because it’s like an anomaly, I guess, but I’m just another race car driver. The car doesn’t know the difference. I get treated the same on track because most of the time they don’t know who’s in the car. And it’s really only the people in the periphery and the fans that think it’s a novelty.”

In other words, why make a big deal of it? She doesn’t. She’s a race car driver — and she cannot help it. “I don’t know any other way, I really don’t. And I love it. I’m passionate about the driving, and I’m passionate about challenging myself in a competition as well. I love the fact that you’re competing with yourself because you can always always always learn something and do better.”

Someday, Legge will hang up her helmet for good, but she hopes that will be a long way off. And when asked what kind of car she likes to drive the most, Legge’s response was both sage and media-savvy: “I think that you get the most pleasure out of getting the most out of the car and winning races.”